Commemorating the 2012 centennial celebration of Japan’s gift of cherry trees to the United States, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, in partnership with the Japan Commerce Association of Washington (JCAW) and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York (JCCI), has launched the “Mansfield Foundation Task Force on Crafting a Contemporary U.S.-Japan Vision for Shared Progress and Prosperity.” The task force, part of a broader initiative by JCAW and JCCI to commemorate the Cherry Blossom Centennial, cultivates a next generation of American Japan experts from the private sector, academia, and government. The Mansfield Foundation is deeply grateful to the sponsors of the Cherry Blossom Centennial Commemoration Project.

The task force has met together four times between 2011 and the end of 2012 in Japan and the U.S, working independently to develop a modern visionfor the U.S.-Japan relationship that reflects an evolving geopolitical context in the Asia Pacific and the realities of an increasingly globalized world.

This vision, which recommends forward-looking strategic initiatives through which the two countries can contribute to mutual economic strength and vitality, has been published here.